One Day in the Life of Hikaru and Nova Shidou
by Sheo Darren
Summary: So sorry for the irregular updates! Chapter Four finally up: Please review!
1. Ohayou! Ohayou!

An Ordinary Day in the Life of Hikaru and Nova Shidou A NonMagic Knight Rayearth Story By: Sheo Darren  
  
Magic Knight Rayearth is copyrighted by CLAMP, bless their homely little hearts save for CHOBITS. The author does not claim ownership on any of the Rayearth characters and ideas.  
  
Chapter One: Ohayou, Ohayou!  
  
The sun rose over the slumbering districts and suburbs of Tokyo, welcome warm sunlight washing over the still sleepy city. It was a chilly morning, not too much of an odd one to have been born in the midst of waning summer months. The cool morning air was a lure for all sleepers to extend their peaceful slumbers by just a little bit more.  
  
In a nondescript apartment, sited in a quiet section of the city, a small drama was about to unfold.  
  
"Ohayou, Hikaru! Wake up, onee-san!"  
  
Hikaru Shidou sleepily stirred beneath the comfortable covers of her bed. "Leave me alone," she muttered, hugging her pillow tight. "I'm still trying to sleep."  
  
"I said, wake up, sleepy-head!" the voice persisted. Hands shook the drowsy Hikaru, trying to rouse her from sleep. "We're going to be late for school if you don't wake up!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh, come on, Hikaru!"  
  
"Shoo," muttered Hikaru, half-heartedly fighting off the hands that tried to bring her out of her slumber. She burrowed deeper into the comfortable covers of her bed, trying to go back to the world of dreams she had been frequenting.  
  
The speaker was not to be defeated, having hit upon a brilliant way to wake the sleepy Hikaru. She brought her face down to a level beside Hikaru's visible ear, and whispered, "Lantis is here."  
  
Immediately Hikaru bolted upright, wide-awake faster than one could blink. "What! Where? Where?"  
  
The red-head scanned her bedroom in panic, searching for the tall, gaunt form of the kendo team captain. It took fully five seconds for the realization that she had been had to dawn upon her.  
  
"Gotcha," the voice snickered at her side.  
  
Nova Shidou grinned at the sight of her flustered twin sister all shook up, and still in her pajamas at that. "I can never understand," she commented, "How you manage to sleep through a war but the mere mention of Lantis' name gets you up in no time at all."  
  
Hikaru glared at her. "That was a dirty trick, Nova! Why did you have to mention Lantis?"  
  
"You just don't appreciate all the troubles I put up with to get you up every morning," Nova replied with mock seriousness.  
  
Hikaru and Nova Shidou were identical twins, as alike as identical twins could be. Both were slim, petite and rather tomboyish young girls of fourteen years, packed to the brim with eternal cheerfulness and inexhaustible energy. They went to the same school, loved kendo and the color red and sweet ice cream (especially cherry ice cream), and shared the same dream of becoming guide dog trainers.  
  
The siblings' main difference was that the elder Hikaru tied her crimson red hair into a pigtail, while Nova preferred to let her long candy-pink hair hang unrestrained. Also, Nova wore two red-gold clips on her head; these had been given to her by her favorite teacher (who was, ironically, Hikaru's terror professor) and had a sense of humor that mainly focused on getting the best out of her embarrassed targets, who often turned out to be Hikaru.  
  
The origin of this little drama was that Hikaru had been finding it hard to rouse herself from her sleep during the past few weeks. After the twins had arrived late at school for three days running and had gotten scolded by their mother for their tardiness, Nova had taken the matter in her own hands, declaring that she would be the one to wake Hikaru up early in the morning. Hikaru would have appreciated the effort Nova exerted to fulfill her promise, except that her sister's perverse sense of humor was most irreverent. Nothing was sacred for Nova, not even Hikaru's love life, especially counting the fact that the word 'Lantis' was enough to get undivided attention.  
  
And why not? Lantis, the kendo team captain of Hikaru and Nova's school, was the epitome of a heartthrob without him intentionally stressing any single point of it. His sternly handsome features were the stuff of every fantasy of all the girls in their school, from his somber attractive eyes of ebon marble to his low-key, calm and quiet persona. Hikaru had developed a major crush on him when she first saw him, blossoming to full-fledged adoration and liking over the years. For Hikaru, Lantis would be her first and only true love.  
  
This was why she really hated Nova's light bantering way of treating her love life.  
  
"Oh, knock it off, Nova! You don't have to keep hammering away at that!" Hikaru was becoming rather flustered with the irreverent use of Lantis' name.  
  
"Oh, grow up, big sister." Nova had a way of sounding very much like their mother, a tone she used only to scold her elder twin. "You'd think that every time I mention Lantis' name, you'd get one inch closer to actually marrying the guy."  
  
"Nova! Dame!"  
  
"The name Lantis Shidou doesn't suit him! What can he see in a diminutive sweaty handed tomboy like you?"  
  
"Stop it, I said!"  
  
"And besides," Nova paused dramatically before dropping the ultimate bombshell. "He's much TALLER than you!"  
  
"NOVA!"  
  
Grinning unrepentantly, Nova began to sing an annoying ditty she had composed. "Hikaru and Lantis, sitting on a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Hikaru with a baby carriage!"  
  
"That's it!" Hikaru grabbed the nearest weapon at hand -her pillow- and began clobbering Nova with it. The latter retaliated with another pillow but because Hikaru had the jump on her she was getting the worst of the encounter. Deciding to change her tactics, Nova ducked under a swiping pillow and tackled her sister. For the next minutes, the twins were so intent on wrestling each other that they failed to hear the footsteps approaching their room, or the door opening.  
  
Hikaru had finally pinned the giggling Nova down on the mattress and was crowing her 'victory' when Hikari, the family dog, leapt onto the bed and subsequently on the twins. Although unprepared for the arrival of their pet, Hikaru took it all in stride. "Hey, Hikari!" she greeted, scratching the back of her Japanese Spitz's head. "Here to congratulate me, huh, girl?"  
  
"How did she get in here?" Nova, despite being pinned beneath her sister's weight, was perplexed. "I thought the door was closed.  
  
"Who did let you in here, girl?" the puzzled Hikaru wondered as well.  
  
"I did."  
  
Sheepishly, their nightclothes rumpled and worn, Hikaru's bed in a depressing state of repair, and Hikari wagging her tail madly, the two sisters looked up at the stern woman who had entered their room.  
  
"Uh, hi, oka-san," Hikaru managed.  
  
Izumi Shidou put her arms on her hips and regarded her two daughters. "And just what are the two of you doing, Hikaru and Nova Shidou?" The way she pronounced their full names signaled trouble and a sermon.  
  
"We were just. er, wrestling," Nova lamely offered.  
  
"Wrestling, huh?" Izumi was not amused by her daughter's attempt at humor. "And you suppose that the local TV channel would like to shoot a special episode with the two of you as contestants, is that it?"  
  
The two girls blushed in embarrassment, the remark having hit home.  
  
"Well, then." Their mother crossed her arms and looked at them sternly. "When the two of you are ready to act like mature young women of your age, you'd better have the room fixed and take a bath and get ready for school."  
  
"Yes, Mama."  
  
"Good." Izumi paused before stepping out of the room completely. "And by the way, breakfast is nearly ready. It's your favorite, so better hurry up or you won't have any left on the table."  
  
Hikaru and Nova brightened. "Yes, Mama!"  
  
Izumi let a smile permeate her face. "Hurry along, now." Her footsteps receded from the room.  
  
Sheo's Thoughts: Pardon if the chapter's a bit short; I'm trying to keep things simple and uncluttered. You know a simple fresh perspective? Anyway, Nova and Hikaru here are twin sisters, MKR never happened, and all the characters have been integrated into our real world and given real lives. But this story focuses more on Hikaru and Nova's relationship as sisters. The next Chapter will deal with their friends Umi and Fuu, so wait for it! 


	2. Sakura Saku

An Ordinary Day in the Life of Hikaru and Nova Shidou  
  
A Magic Knight Rayearth Story  
  
By: Sheo Darren  
  
Magic Knight Rayearth is copyrighted by CLAMP. I love these women, but why, oh why did they have to make Chobits? And is there an Angelic Layer fighting game? I want a copy! Uh, anyway, the author does not claim ownership on any of the Rayearth characters and ideas...  
  
Chapter Two: The Cherry Tree  
  
There were many sakura trees in the various parks and streets of Tokyo. There was a legend about one of these trees in particular, the single lone tree growing in the center of the park. It was rumored to have been planted during the time of the Meiji Restoration, with many rumors claiming it to be much older than that. Certainly it has existed in its solitary glory as long as the oldest people in the city remember, perhaps even longer than that. Its size accounted for its age; it was simply the park's center of attention.  
  
Many stories abounded this tree, tales of enchantment and mystery. The most well known and popular among them was about the fairy of the tree. It was said there was a fairy that dwelt within the tree, a fairy older than time itself, the being that created the world and was happy to live in it without a care. If a group of friends wished to have their friendship endure throughout their lives, they would go beneath the tree and faithfully swear to uphold their friendship. If they truly desired it, the fairy would appear to grant their wish and bless their friendship.  
  
Some legends are true in a sense.  
  
The quiet of the tree's glade was abruptly ended when two ninth graders arrived, to the delight and amusement of two other girls who were already waiting underneath the tree.  
  
"I got here first!" Nova victoriously claimed as she slid to a halt.  
  
"No way!" Hikaru, only a moment behind her sister, protested the matter. "You pushed me back there!"  
  
"I did not!"  
  
"Did too!"  
  
"That seems to be a perennial argument between the two of you," one of the waiting girls commented.  
  
"Let them be, Fuu," her companion told the first girl matter-of-factly. "After all, what can you expect among dwarvettes?"  
  
Forgetting their argument, Hikaru and Nova united in the face of the teasing directed against their common sore point - their short stature. "We are not dwarvettes!"  
  
Umi Ryuuzaki and Fuu Houji enjoyed themselves immensely whenever the Shidou twins were around. The redheads' energy and charisma were simply infective, and their antics were extremely amusing to watch. Interestingly, the four friends complemented each other rather well, each of them providing some sort of balancing effect for the others to stand by.  
  
Umi, the tallest of the group, was rather bossy and proud of her good looks, especially her matching azure hair and cobalt blue eyes. Coming from a wealthy family of which she was the only child, she had grown up rather spoiled and had a hair-trigger temper, tending to snap at the tiniest mistakes. Nevertheless, she was the heartthrob of her batch, cheering squad leader and current 'Most Popular Girl' in the campus. Though Umi loved to pretend to be rather horrible in temper, she doted on Hikaru and Nova, treating them like the little sisters she never had.  
  
Quiet Fuu, eldest among the four girls, was the group's conscience and common sense in that she was always the one to provide simple, direct answers to complicated questions. She had short blonde hair in contrast to her delicate emerald eyes and wore a pair of rather large spectacles. Very patient and a born peacemaker (especially valuable what with Umi's hothead nature and Hikaru and Nova often at odds with each other), she was the model of contentment of them four.  
  
"You two are dwarvettes," Fuu confirmed, "While Umi over her is a cranky sorceress."  
  
"And what would that make you?" Umi demanded of her.  
  
Fuu tipped her glasses up her nose and put her palms together in a seraphic gesture, smiling as she went. "Why, that would make me the beautiful damsel in distress, awaiting her promised prince to come and save her from such evil monsters as you."  
  
"Oh, and the prince would be Ferio, would it?" Nova suggested.  
  
At the mention of the star soccer captain of her school, Fuu blushed slightly. "Of course."  
  
"Why is it," Umi cut in, "That I find it hard to imagine Ferio astride a white horse, gallantly coming in to rescue someone like you, when the cranky sorceress is far more beautiful than you?"  
  
"Because he'd turn into stone if you stare at him long enough?" Hikaru asked. "Oh, look who's talking!" Umi returned. "As if tomboys like you could ever get a fraction of the admiration I enjoy!"  
  
"Well, I still think you're an old hag," countered Nova.  
  
"That's Miss Alcyone!" protested Umi.  
  
The girls all burst into laughter at the thought of the exotic-looking Science teacher -Umi's pet peeve and constant target of her jokes- as a grumpy old witch.  
  
Suddenly, there was a rustle up above their heads, in the leaves and branches of the cherry tree overhead. The four friends looked up expectantly.  
  
What annoyed Umi about Mokona was that Mokona was simply Mokona - an annoying animated cotton puffball. Mokona's habit of regularly using her head as a springboard might have also contributed to the state of hostility between them.  
  
With its usual carefree grace, Mokona bounced off Umi's head and landed into the awaiting Hikaru's arms. The fairy preferred to be carried by either of the Shidou twins, often selecting one of the redheads' shoulder as a perch from which it could scold Umi.  
  
This time, Umi very nearly succumbed to the temptation to wring the fairy's neck -or whatever was close enough to it; Mokona did not seem to have a neck. "Hey, what's with the acrobatics?" she snapped at the chubby creature.  
  
"Puu-pupupu-puu-puuu!"  
  
"That's no excuse for using my head as a practice floor for gymnastics!"  
  
"Pu-puu-pupupuu-pu-puu!"  
  
"Mokona says that you head is a convenient trampoline because it's so big," Hikaru translated. Only she and Nova could truly understand every word -or maybe 'puu'- Mokona puu-ed out. "That's why she likes to jump on it."  
  
"Trampoline? TRAMPOLINE?"  
  
"Pu-pupupu-puu-puu-pupuu!"  
  
Nova grinned maliciously. "She says your wrinkles show when you are angry, Umi," the younger Shidou added.  
  
"Wrinkles? Never!" Umi went through the trouble of tossing her luxuriously long hair with her free hand while putting on a latently seductive air. "You should know that my skin is unblemished and can never be tainted with a pimple, wrinkle or mole, ever! I am the incarnation of the goddess of beauty!"  
  
"Yeah, right," Hikaru said dryly. Fortunately, Umi was far too engrossed in prattling about the virtues of her loveliness to even think of snapping at her.  
  
"Ami Mizuno?" Nova was asking Fuu.  
  
"No, she means Sailor Venus."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"And when I'm through with my make-up and beauty tips," Umi continued, putting on her dreamiest tone while clasping her hands together. "I'll be absolutely stunning! No boy would be able to resist the tiniest plea I make! And woe to the guy whom I've marked for my slate!"  
  
"You do mean Headmaster Clef, do you?" Hikaru, Nova and Fuu asked.  
  
"Eh?" Umi was aghast upon hearing a secret she hid as her own divulged. "H- How did you know?"  
  
It had been the sharp-eyed Nova, always on the look-out for a piece of juicy gossip she could needle people with, who had first noticed that Umi seemed rather off whenever the handsome Headmaster of Hikaru and Nova's high school appeared. A bit of logical extrapolation explained how this accounted for occasional slips-of-the-tongue, faintness, and uncharacteristic shyness on Umi's part. Nova had told Hikaru, and Hikaru had promptly told Fuu, who in turn confided to a very amused Ferio. As far as the friends knew, that was the extent of the gossip.  
  
"Oh, the ignominy!" Umi was a very good actor, capable of exaggerating her emotions without making it look like she was really pretending to. "To hear it be said that my one true desire is bared to the entire world to see! The humiliation! The pain! Not to mention the thoughts the girls at the cheering squad will think about me if they ever learn I fell in love with the headmaster of the lower grades! Ah, unrequited love is so poignant and ironic!"  
  
Impressed with Umi's acting performance, Fuu and Hikaru applauded.  
  
Nova, on the other hand, snickered.  
  
Instantly, Umi was on her. "Unlike you," she said, pointing a finger at Nova as if the pink-haired girl was a snake poised to strike and the finger was a stick posed to kill it. "Who is so engrossed in your sweaty, uncultured tomboyish games, that you haven't had the time to find yourself a boy to become your inspiration?"  
  
"Oh, I do have an inspirational love!" Nova said, grinning.  
  
"Oh, yeah?" Umi scoffed. "Tell it, then."  
  
Nova slyly regarded her indignant friend. "Do you really want to know who it is? You might regret it."  
  
"The nerve! As if you can bring anything against me that will pull me down to such uncultivated levels as yours?" Umi put on her 'defiant' mode, hands on her hips, nose upturned in scorn. "Do your worst, Nova."  
  
"Okay." To Hikaru's puzzlement, Nova turned to her, her elfin face now looking very bedraggled and lonely. "Hikaru-chan," she said softly, taking her sister's wrists in her hands.  
  
"Eh?" Hikaru was very much perplexed at being addressed as Hikaru-chan by her sister. Meanwhile, Mokona had hopped away from Hikaru to Fuu's arms and was now watching the spectacle unfold.  
  
Nova looked so sad, so plaintive, that it was all Hikaru could do not to hug her sister in an attempt to comfort her. "I've been keeping this inside me for so long," the younger Shidou murmured. "Ever since I was born, I've hidden my true emotions from all of you. I've suppressed myself, allowed myself to be so cruel with myself just because I was frightened and confused of what you'd say about me.  
  
"But now, now I can finally tell you the truth." So saying, Nova's hands slipped from Hikaru's wrists to wrap themselves around the latter's slim waist. "I can finally set my heart free by telling you my feelings for you."  
  
"What do you mean by feelings for me?" The poor Hikaru's thoughts were utterly swamped by her sister's strange behavior.  
  
"This." Nova buried her face into her clothes, hugging Hikaru with all the might she could muster in her small frame. "Oh, Hikaru."  
  
"N-Nova!" Hikaru stammered, surprised at her sister's suddenly excessively loving behavior.  
  
"I love you, Hikaru," Nova whimpered. "I love you so much."  
  
"Eeeewww!" Always the prim and cultured socialite, Umi was understandably disgusted. "Yuri!"  
  
For her part, Fuu merely tipped her glasses and said, "This is highly irregular," in a tone that sounded like the sight of Nova telling Hikaru that she really loved her sister was common thought to it.  
  
Hikaru was trying to pry off Nova's very tight and loving embrace. "Hey, Nova!" she exclaimed, face beet red. "L-Let me go! This is embarrassing!"  
  
"What's embarrassing?" innocently asked Nova. "I'm only proclaiming my love for you, Hikaru!"  
  
"That's exactly what's embarrassing! We're both girls, and I'm your sister at that!"  
  
"That shouldn't deter true love!"  
  
"Nova!"  
  
She grinned unrepentantly.  
  
Then Hikaru, seeing Umi almost ready to throw up and Fuu now looking rather concerned, caught on to her twin's scheme. "Done with the acting?" she asked, grimacing.  
  
"Two can play that game," Nova snickered as she disengaged her arms from Hikaru. She meant Umi, who was still nauseated.  
  
"Well, congratulations," came the weak and muttered reply. "You've just gotten your whimper from me."  
  
"Dear sister," Hikaru began sarcastically, "The next time you try that trick, at least give me fair warning. I really thought you were a."  
  
"Queer?" Nova put on the 'despondent' voice she used earlier. "Why, Hikaru? Can't you accept my love for you?"  
  
"I'm going to tell you to Mama!" the elder Shidou threatened.  
  
"Tattletale!" returned her twin.  
  
"Have you ever wondered," Fuu commented, "How we all come here to have a serious discussion, but it always ends up like this?"  
  
The girls all looked at each other and began to laugh. 


	3. Terror Professor Debonair

**An Ordinary Day in the Life of Hikaru and Nova Shidou**

**A NonMagic Knight Rayearth Story**

**By: Sheo Darren**

_Here's some Algebra: D: {Magic Knight Rayearth/Magic Knight Rayearth Є CLAMP/KODANSHA, with exception of CLAMP not = to me}. For the mathematically challenged: The usual disclaimers apply._

_I should quit complaining about Chobits After all, Chii is cute and kind and innocently adorable. (Damned perverted Hideki; I'll fry him). So, a change of tack: Why did CLAMP have to make X1999? Why?_

_Damn gay bishounen losers._

_And they blew up __Tokyo__Tower__, too..._

_Oh, and please proceed with my story._

_Sorry for the long wait!!! Itadekimasu, ikuyo!_

Chapter Three: Terror Professor Debonair 

English class would usually be a chore for any energetic girl who would rather romp around in full kendo garb and take on a hundred opponents all at once rather than listen to an hour of boring lectures and write in an alphabet invented by long-dead Phoenicians.

English class is torture for all Japanese students. We all know why.

English class is especially horrendous because of three words in one name: _War and Peace. If Tolstoy was still alive today, Hikaru would have beaten him to an inch of his life with her _shinai_._

It didn't help that the English professor was Hikaru's worst nightmare come true.

Debonair was an old and stern crone who would accurately fit the earlier description of a wicked old witch. She was impossibly strict: Put one toe out of line, let a strand of hair slip the wrong way, and you'd have her breathing down your neck, demanding why you weren't paying attention. Debonair was the exact anti-thesis of her name, 'ultraconservative' instead of 'dashing', less a teacher than an undead lich come out to devour your soul.

What was worse was that she positively hated Hikaru.

That was one thing the redhead knew very well. The grumpy Debonair seemed to take a hidden pleasure at seeing her squirm, going out of way to ask impromptu questions and recitals, scolding her twice as much as she tormented the other students. This made Hikaru the long-suffering 'bleeding-heart martyr' of her class.

Paradoxically, Nova always had the time of her life in English. To Hikaru's unending disbelief, her sister was a straight-A student who always submitted projects ahead of time and who somehow always got perfect marks on her exams where all the other students –minus Hikaru, who was smart enough on her own and whom Nova generously tutored – would miserably flunk. This made her Debonair's pet student, a role Nova played and enjoyed to the utmost.

Her heavy white make-up doing little to hide to the creases on her grim face, Debonair faced the class. She was talking in her creepy 'villainess' voice, meant to be as pleasing as someone grating his fingernails on the blackboard. "Two weeks ago, all of you were assigned to make a three-part theme on Shakespeare's _Hamlet using the English language."_

Everyone except Nova groaned or shuddered at the memory of that assignment. Normal English was bad enough; Shakespearean English (early 1700s Elizabethan English, with that awful British accent to boot!) was criminal. The only point of relief was that it wasn't American slang English, especially the Texan variety. Debonair was planning to solve that by assigning everyone _The Grapes of Wrath._

Debonair called out a student's name and made her read her composition to the class out loud. Every now and then she would sternly correct pronunciation errors with a singular bark or command.

While the poor girl was sweating it out, Hikaru whispered to Nova a long-standing question she bore: "How on Earth can you stand her?"

The younger Shidou gave her sister a know-it-all look. "Oh, come on, Hikaru. Why can't you look at Mrs. Debonair from a different perspective?"

"It's because she's so grumpy to everyone, except when it comes to you!"

"She obviously thinks I'm _kawaii_."

That earned Nova a glare, which she countered with a grin.

"Shidou Hikaru!"

She knew she was in trouble when she heard her name called out. There was a sinking feeling in her gut that something was going to be very wrong today.

Hikaru got up awkwardly and asked, "Yes, Ma'am?"

Debonair fixed her a withering stare. "Your composition?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll get it from my bag." It had taken Hikaru heavy help from Nova and their mom to write that frustratingly long and complex essay.

"See that you do." That last remark was cryptic to the bone.

Opening her schoolbag, Hikaru hurriedly rummaged through it, looking for her three-part theme. Debonair did not add to her composure; the professor/lich was clucking her tongue once every five seconds, sounding like a clock with a deadline ticking down. A more prompt analogy would be the timer on a bomb.

_Where is it? Hikaru remembered very well that she had put the envelope containing her well-earned composition inside her bag..._

..._No, I didn't._

A flashback of their room when they left it reminded her that she had noticed an envelope on her desk. Hikaru had gotten the urge to pick it up, but just then Nova reminded her they were going to be late for their meet with Umi and Fuu.

"It can wait, Hikaru-_chan," she had said._

_That was the envelope that had my composition!_

_Nova, I am so going to kill you!_

"Well?" Debonair demanded, looking at Hikaru impatiently.

The redhead swallowed hard. "Uh, ma'am, I left my composition at home."

Beside her, the startled Nova glanced at her twin.

"You left it?" There was a dangerous quiet to the professor's tone. "Or perhaps you mean you forgot to bring it?"

"It's at home, ma'am."

"Or perhaps you forgot to make your homework, would you?"

The accusation was not an insult, merely Debonair's first suspicion concerning all missing homework. But it still stung Hikaru badly. The redhead remembered that it was her sister's fault all this happened.

_Nova, when we get home, you're going to be in deep trouble. You are so dead._

_Correction: You won't get home at all. You won't see a sunset after this day!_

_If I'm still alive..._

A hand shot up in the air, and to Hikaru's surprise Debonair took notice of it.

There was one person who could do that while the stingy professor was grilling a student_ and be certain to get her undivided attention. No, it was not Headmaster Clef; even the highest official of the school left Debonair to her own devices when it came to her class._

Who else would it be but Shidou Nova?

Rather surprised at this show of hand, Debonair turned to her pet student and asked in a much more gentle tone than the one she used to address the other students: "Yes, Miss Shidou Nova?"

"Uh, _sensei, I have no way to explain myself." Nova was looking very ashamed and embarrassed of herself, the product of that very same acting skill she took Umi by unaware. "You see, Debonair-_sama_, I made a tiny little mistake."_

"Well, what is it, then?" Debonair did not look strict at all with Nova, yet another sign that she played favorites –and hated all the rest.

Blushing and dilly-dallying for all she was worth, Nova burst out: "I accidentally exchanged homework with Hikaru! I brought hers with me while I left mine at home!"

Hikaru's knees nearly buckled in shock. Her sister had just sacrificed her hard-won work in order to make up for her mistake!

Nova was playing her ploy to the utmost. "See? Here, ma'am, is Hikaru's essay." She brandished her essay paper. Only in that instead of the name _Nova_ written on it, there was Hikaru's name listed as owner.

Curiously and perhaps with a bit of suspicion, Debonair took the offered composition, scanned it quickly and pursed her eyebrows.

"Miss Shidou Hikaru," she asked coolly, "Is this your paper?"

Spotting the hidden, desperate wiggle of fingers on Nova's hand, Hikaru dumbly nodded.

_Say yes, Nova's fingers were telling her._

"Yes, ma'am, that's my paper."

"Could you please explain why _A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy?"_

Luckily, Nova's composition was roughly of the same base ideas as Hikaru's. She herself had read through the latter's work to get an idea of how she should write. Plus, Hikaru had sort of liked reading _A Midsummer Night's Dream._

"Ma'am, unlike _Othello and__ Macbeth, the protagonists of _A Midsummer Night's Dream _succeed in their quests and regain their happiness without tragic consequences for their actions."_

Debonair's brows pursed again, elating Hikaru. Mission Impossible complete: They had duped the old lich!

"Miss Shidou Nova," the elderly teacher told her erring student, "Next time, please make sure that your own paper is the one inside your bag. Who knows," and a smile flitted across her face, "You might just end up exchanging boyfriends one day if you keep being so careless."

The class forced a collective laugh, which Debonair silenced immediately with a stare. "Did I ask the class to laugh?"

Deathly silence.

"You may sit now, Miss Shidou. Both of you."

Hikaru slumped into her chair at the same time that Nova sank down on her own. The two were unnerved and exhausted by that crisis, but as their matching eyes met, the mutual delight in their eyes blossomed.

Their messages were eyes only, silent and personal.

_Thanks._

_Welcome, sis._


	4. Kendo

**An Ordinary Day in the Life of Hikaru and Nova Shidou**

**A NonMagic Knight Rayearth Story**

**By: Sheo Darren**

            _Magic Knight Rayearth is copyrighted by CLAMP, bless their homely little hearts save for CHOBITS. The author does not claim ownership on any of the Rayearth characters and ideas._

Chapter Four: Kendo 

"Come on, we don't want to be late!"

"Slow down, we've got fifteen minutes before class actually starts.

Hikaru's mood brightened greatly after Monday's Social Sciences classes were over. The first reason was that she would be rid of Debonair's stomach-churning cross-examinations for another day. The second was that students only had one last subject before dismissal. The third was that kendo was the Shidou twins' favorite sport.

The sport of kendo was derived from the ancient Japanese art of sword fighting. The Japanese samurai had first set the tenets for honorable combat in their warrior code, _bushido_. The sword was the heart and soul of a samurai, the symbol of their power and authority. When gunpowder and rifles made swords impotent, the Japanese preserved the art by turning it into a sport.

Instead of the well-tempered blades unsurpassed by any other smithy in the world, the kendo practitioner used either a single stave called a _bokken_ or the larger, heavier _shinai_. For the finely-crafted armor, the substitute was bamboo/wooden armor and face mask, heavy padded to absorb most of the impact dealt by an opponent's blows. It was a sport, a serious one in all respects, but one that its followers could enjoy greatly, which is how Hikaru and Nova found it.

Their teacher was a man whose reputation was legend among kendo practitioners throughout Japan and the world. Lafarga was a giant of a man, taller than anyone on the campus. He was powerfully built, his great strength evident from his well-honed muscles. His blonde hair was cut in a military style. Fancy gold hoops dangled from his ears. Lafarge could move very fast despite his size, and he had absolute control over every tiny muscle in his entire body. He was gruff but fair, and compared to Debonair Hikaru found his combative nature appealing. Now this was the person to teach kendo classes!

"Before we start of with our activities," Lafarga was announcing to his students, "I have some announcements to make. First off: The school had just purchased a new batch of gear –including a brand-new set of _shinai_ and _bokken_–to replace those that are worn out or broken. Headmaster Clef wishes to remind us to treat our gear with utmost care. I'll leave that last up to you to deliberate over. Try to think of ways not to break the gear even when you _are_ supposed to break them."

The entire class grinned at the pun, though Lafarga didn't follow his students' lead.

"Second, the male students are _encouraged,_" –the instructor emphasized the word 'encouraged'– "To stay to their own change rooms. Mister Moroboshi over there has found out to his misfortune that the girls react very badly at straying into their territory."

At this, the students either broke into laughter at Moroboshi or glared at him, the former the boys' reaction while the latter was taken by the girls. The most lecherous boy in the universe –Nova invented the moniker _ecchi__ genki expressly for him– Moroboshi was a total pervert. To him, copping a feel out of every female who passed by was a daily function in life. Even with that crazy alien girl Lum and her bunch of equally odd flunkies to manage him, Moroboshi still managed to do at least five perverted things every day._

"Sir, I lost my contact lenses," Moroboshi whined as his excuse. "Someone took them from my bag."

The students roared with laughter.

Lafarga waited for the storm to die down before continuing. "And finally, as you all know the school kendo team is looking for a new member. This coincides with our practical test today, so we've decided to fix things up a bit. Here today is none other than our very own _kendo_ team captain, Lantis."

_Lantis__!_ Hikaru's heart stopped beating for a single second upon catching sight of him.

It was Lantis, tall, gaunt but so stunningly handsome. Dressed up in his usual all black attire, with a curious gold circlet mounted on his brow, his appearance sent all the girls present into peals of adoration, soft, suppressed sighs, and wishful fantasies.

All save one.

Beside her twin, Nova Shidou sniffed in disdain. "Wonderful," she muttered in semi-disdain, her mood totally contrasting with the dreamy one her twin sported. "Just because he appears doesn't mean every girl here has to swoon."

Hikaru elbowed her.

"It's true!" Nova growled back, and was answered by a glower before Hikaru returned her attention to Lantis' speech. Hikaru didn't catch her sister then cock her head and observe him oddly from the corner of her eyes.

The class had gone silent when Lantis began to speak. His calm, methodical voice had the female part of the audience paying rapt attention to every word he was saying.

"What you'll be having today is something like a real tournament, which will also be graded as an exam. Each of you will be given a partner chosen randomly from your classmates. The two of you will test each other's skills and let your evaluators –Sir Lafarga and myself– review your skills and grade your competency while you're at it. The rules will be of the elimination type: Winners progress up and fight other winning students, until all but one has been eliminated. The sole winner will be given a perfect grade in the exam and a slot in the school team."

"Elimination?" Nova grinned menacingly at her sister. "Well, between the two of us, we should be able to clear off the entire class now, do we?"

Hikaru grinned back. "Well, don't expect me to let you win off me, sister. I'm going to get that slot, and you better believe it." She waggled a finger at Nova, who playfully grabbed at it in retaliation.

The siblings' friendly rivalry in _kendo _class was something of a legend with their classmates and friends. It was well known that Hikaru and Nova were the most skilled of the local _kendo_ enthusiasts, having trained with their father and each other for practically their whole lives. Friendly betting on which Shidou would win if set against each other were not uncommon, but only now could everyone know the final outcome.

That is, if they did meet in the end, because not all of their classmates were not mere pushovers, some being as talented as the two. Or maybe Hikaru and Nova might find themselves in the unenviable position of having to face each other of at once in the first or second rounds. It was all up to luck, Fate and the respective skills of each one that would decide the last opposing forces for this tourney.

"Well," Nova said with a flourished grin. "May the best girl win?"

Hikaru, more of a diplomatic nature than her brash sister, added, "Or guy."

"As if," was her twin's answer.

**Sheo's**** Notes: I am so sorry for being so late in updating this! So many things to do at school! I promise to follow-up as regularly as I can –maybe monthly or bimonthly! Again: Thanks and apologies to my readers! Please review!******


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